ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 R680 at CES

While making our way through various exhibits at CES, Dave and I got a chance to get hands on time with AMD's upcoming ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 graphics card. As we mentioned in our initial coverage of the ATI Radeon HD 3800 series back in November, the 3870 X2 is a dual-GPU powered card that leverages ATI's CrossFire technology. Here's an up close and personal look at the card...

The ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 In The Flesh

We can't disclose any specifications just yet, but can say that the 3870 X2 has a pair of R670 GPUs on single PCB coupled together via a PCI Express fanout switch from PLX. Frame Buffer memory configurations are likely to be similar to existing Radeon HD 3870 cards - per GPU - but representatives from ATI informed us that board parters are likely to design cards with up to 2GB frame buffers. As for power and performance, once again, we can't give specifics for now. However, think less power than a 2900 XT with performance on par or better than a Radeon HD 3870 CrossFire configuration.